The latest Social Security projections raise fresh concerns about retirement security for women nearing retirement age.The program’s retirement trust fund is now on track to run dry by late 2032, which would trigger an automatic 22% cut in benefits for every recipient, the 2026 Trustees Report confirmed. For the 55% of beneficiaries aged 62 and older who are women, that reduction would hit checks already far smaller than what men collect, the Social Security Administration stated.Women aged 65 and older received an average Social Security benefit of $1,808 per month as of December 2024, compared to $2,215 for retired men of the same age, a gap of $407, the National Women’s Law Center reported. The disparity reflects decades of lower wages, career interruptions for caregiving, and greater representation in lower-paying occupations. The $438 monthly gap stretches wider in some statesThe national average captures the broad trend, but the gender disparity in Social Security benefits varies dramatically across regions and tells a more complex story about local economies.Women collect an average of $1,760 per month from Social Security nationally, while men receive $2,198, a FinanceBuzz state-by-state analysis found. Utah recorded the widest gap at 27.04%, with women receiving $649 less per month than men, followed by Louisiana at 25.89% and Wyoming at 23.89%.The District of Columbia recorded the smallest gender gap at 8.36%, or $174 monthly, likely aided by federal jobs. Hawaii and New York ranked next, with disparities of 14% and 15.98%, according to the FinanceBuzz analysis.Career interruptions and the pay gap compound at retirementSocial Security benefits are calculated using a worker’s 35 highest-earning years, a formula that penalizes anyone who leaves the workforce to care for children or aging parents.Women are disproportionately affected by this structure because they are more likely to have extended employment breaks or to work part-time during peak earning years, the American Academy of Actuaries noted in its Women and Social Security issue brief. More Social Security:Fidelity offers a lifeline to millions before Social Security shiftsSocial Security retirees could pocket a bigger 2027 raiseSocial Security’s funds will run out sooner than expectedEach year with zero or low earnings drags down the 35-year average and reduces the eventual monthly benefit.The underlying pay gap amplifies the problem at every stage. Women working full-time earned 81 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made in 2024, a figure that widened from 84 cents in 2022, the National Women’s Law Center reported in its January 2026 “A Window into the Wage Gap” factsheet. Over a 40-year career, that gap translates to roughly $542,000 in cumulative lost earnings, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) estimated in its 2026 Simple Truth report. Lower lifetime earnings feed directly into smaller retirement benefits, fewer pension contributions, and reduced personal savings, the U.S. Department of the Treasury noted.
Career breaks and persistent wage gaps leave many women with lower Social Security benefits, reduced retirement savings, and greater financial insecurity.Johner Images/Getty Images
What a 22% benefit cut could mean for older women in povertyThe 2026 Trustees Report projects that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will cover full benefits only through the fourth quarter of 2032. After that point, incoming payroll tax revenue would fund approximately 78% of scheduled payments.The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that the average monthly reduction would total approximately $500 across all recipients, with cuts exceeding that amount in 29 states. Kathleen Romig, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and a former Social Security Administration analyst, told CBS News in June 2026 that public appetite overwhelmingly favors protecting benefits over cutting them, making the political stakes of inaction especially high. The program is incredibly beloved, so contemplating the idea of reducing those benefits is really difficult. We really need to think hard about how to raise enough money so we can afford those benefits because that is what people want.For women receiving the national average of $1,760, a 22% reduction would lower their monthly check to roughly $1,373.A benefit reduction of this scale could push a significant portion of older women below the poverty threshold, reversing gains that Social Security has sustained for decades.Advocates and policymakers press Congress to act before 2032“This should be a wake-up call: Congress needs to act,” AARP CEO Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan said in a statement following the trustees’ report release, CBS News reported. “No family should see any cuts to what they’ve earned in Social Security.”Elizabeth Wilkins, CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, pointed to structural flaws in the programis financing as a driver of the shortfall, CBS News reported.Rising income inequality has eroded the payroll tax base because only wages up to $184,500 are subject to Social Security taxes in 2026, CBS News reported.Joel Eskovitz, Senior Director, Social Security and Savings at the AARP Public Policy Institute, described Social Security as a program that can be repaired without benefit cuts, noting that most Americans support strengthening the program rather than reducing payments, CBS News reported.Planning for reduced benefits while reform remains uncertainRetirees and pre-retirees should plan as though benefits will be reduced rather than eliminated, Jeff Judge, a certified financial planner with Chesapeake Financial Planners, told U.S. News.Even after trust fund depletion, Social Security would continue paying 78% of scheduled benefits from ongoing payroll tax collections, the Social Security Administration has emphasized.A 22% reduction in benefits would be especially significant for women, who typically rely on lower average payments and have fewer alternative sources of income to offset the loss. Planners interviewed by U.S. News pointed to three strategies: understanding spousal and survivor benefit options, delaying claims to age 70 when feasible, and stress-testing plans against a 20% to 24% reduction.The 2032 deadline gives Congress roughly six years to act, and the program’s history includes a 1983 reform that averted a similar crisis. Related: Social Security beneficiaries have reason to worry